Cathedral Park is both a park and subsequent neighborhood in the northernmost section of Portland, Oregon on the east shore of the Willamette River. The park is situated under the St. Johns Bridge, and was given its name due to the gothic arches that support the bridge. It was not a planned stop on our trip but one we had to make after seeing photos from a local artist at the Portland Saturday Market. From far away, St. Johns Bridge looks like any other suspension bridge over water but the beauty that hides underneath in Cathedral Park is truly a work of art and resembles that of a gothic cathedral church. But the park also has a dark past. On August 5, 1949, Thelma Taylor was waiting for a bus in St. Johns on her way to pick beans in Hillsboro when she was kidnapped by an ex-convict named Morris Leland. He kept her on the bank of the Willamette River for the night, and told police he brutally beat and stabbed her the next morning. Since then, Cathedral Park is said to be one of Portland’s most haunted places — and people say they can still hear Thelma Taylor calling for help. Even 64 years after the murder, people still talk about that fateful day and it’s said that her screams are heard across the grassy expanse and through the cavernous, gothic arches. We didn’t hear Thelma the day we were there – only the sounds of our camera shutters taking a hundred pictures.

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